


Always an Ashynite

by Truthwatcher16



Category: Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Book 03: Oathbringer Spoilers, Gen, Headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28724238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Truthwatcher16/pseuds/Truthwatcher16
Summary: Taln leaves Ashyn.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Always an Ashynite

**Author's Note:**

> I put together this headcanon while listening to Chess the Musical, so y'all should listen to it! (At the very least, everyone should listen to Josh Groban sing "Anthem," which is the main inspiration for this scene :D).

Taln prided himself in being steadfast. He was resolute in all things. However, many people mistook his dedication for a lack of feeling altogether. That was a backwards way of thinking about it - he wasn’t firm because he didn’t feel emotion, but rather, he was firm because he always deeply felt.  
Directing the exodus from Ashyn was fulfilling work. Many spoke to Taln about their conflicted feelings about the migration. It was bittersweet, they said. Taln agreed; it was a bittersweet experience alright, but he never felt that his emotions clashed. Instead, they complimented each other. Made him feel whole. Alive. Thriving, even. Taln surveyed the scorched landscape behind him. The planet was in ruins, there was no doubt. But Taln disagreed with the common assessment that Ashyn was destroyed.  
Nalan approached Taln, and they clasped hands. “I think that’s the last of them,” Nalan said.  
Taln gave a curt nod. “Wonderful. Let’s be off, then.”  
The hundreds of tiny noises that made up Taln’s people washed over him. He absorbed them, and let the energy rejuvenate him. The rising and falling of conversation, and the clinking music of pans knocking against each other as children laughter wove through the background. This was Ashyn, right here. The place they were leaving was ground Taln had grown up on, and indeed all he had ever known - but it was just that: ground. What Taln truly cared about could never be destroyed by flame or Surge. It could never be taken from him by poison or spear. His deepest love lay sheltered where it was the safest: his heart. Ashyn was out of sight, sure. Yet he was still there now.

**Author's Note:**

> I might eventually write a sequel scene set when Taln realizes he's abandoned in Braize (perhaps based on Pity the Child, for my Chess fans who know the song), but no promises. This is my first fanfic I've ever really written, so I hope you guys enjoyed it!


End file.
